Ukiah, CA-The Superior Court of California for Humboldt County will hold an emergency hearing on Thursday, November 14 in Ukiah's Mendocino County Courthouse in response to evidence that Pacific Lumber is illegally clearcutting redwood forests in Humboldt County in violation of an August court order. The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Sierra Club are asking the court to issue an immediate restraining order and to hold Pacific Lumber in contempt of court.

"Pacific Lumber has never shown respect for the law or our children's natural heritage, but this time they have outdone themselves. While flaunting the court's order, Pacific Lumber is driving the murrelet, coho salmon, and other imperiled species to extinction," said Cynthia Elkins, EPIC's Program Director. Sharon Duggan, lead counsel for the environmental groups, stated, "We're simply asking that Pacific Lumber be cited for disobeying the Court's order and restrained from logging so that this case can heard on its merits."

The request for a restraining order maintains that Pacific Lumber is illegally logging in 210,000 acres of privately owned redwoods located in coastal Northern California, including hundreds of acres of ancient forests in the Mattole River watershed. The area under dispute surrounds the Headwaters Grove that was purchased from Texas financier Charles Hurwitz in 1999 with money from the state and federal government.

EPIC and the Sierra Club have sued Pacific Lumber, the California Department of Forestry, and the California Department of Fish & Game over the validity of Pacific Lumber's so-called "Sustained Yield Plan" and related permits, which regulate logging in the areas surrounding the Headwaters Grove, and are supposed to protect endangered species and ensure the long-term viability of California's forests and water quality. Sierra Club and EPIC assert that the Sustained Yield Plan does not adequately protect wildlife or water quality and allows too much logging over too short a time. The groups also claim that the state approved the Sustained Yield Plan and related permits without responding adequately to public concerns.

While the Superior Court of California is reviewing the validity of the Sustained Yield Plan and related permits, the court has ordered Pacific Logging to suspend all logging operations affected by the lawsuit. The groups maintain that Pacific Lumber has defied this order by continuing to agressively log over one million board feet a day, and are even working at night under floodlights.

"The redwood forests surrounding the Headwaters Grove are a national treasure that ought to be protected," said Carl Zichella, Sierra Club's Regional Director for California. "By unlawfully clear-cutting redwoods, threatening endangered species, and degrading water quality, Pacific Lumber is hurting Humboldt County communities and demonstrating once again why there is such local resistance to the company's aggressive logging practices."

Pacific Lumber has an extensive history of violating logging laws. The company has even had its timber license suspended for repeated serious violations of the California Forest Practice Rules. Pacific Lumber has been cited for nine criminal misdemeanors since 1996.